The dollar remained strong yesterday, as risk appetite was subdued due to the US-Iran crisis. However, it weakened again overnight following retaliation from Iran, which involved firing a series of rockets at two US-Iraqi airbases. Iran said that they are considering 13 different retaliation scenarios to inflict a “historic nightmare” on America.
Balance of Trade figures came in for the US, showing the lowest trade deficit in over three years and shrinking for the third consecutive month. Although a lower trade deficit is likely to impact positively on GDP growth, concerns remain over the impact of falling imports in consumer spending, the largest component of GDP.
Non-Manufacturing PMI increased to 55 in December of 2019 from 53.9 in November, slightly beating market forecasts of 54.5.
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